No one really wants to talk about the weather. Inspired by TED Talks, here are some questions to start a better conversation in any situation.

“So, what’s your favorite word?”

Who to ask: The chatty person who’s sharing an outlet with you at the coffee shopThe basic idea: Dictionaries don’t compile themselves — linguistic sleuths called lexicographers do — and in order to keep the modern dictionary accurate and dynamic, they need be open to new words and formats. They also need your help.Fun facts you’ll learn: How lexicography is like archaeology; why there’s no such thing as a “bad” word; and the definition of “erinaceous” (hint: it involves hedgehogs). Scoot to 3:58 for that.

“If you could choose a sixth sense, what would it be?”

When to ask: Around the dinner table, just before dessertThe basic idea: Human perception is limited to information our five senses are able to receive and process. But combining technology with biology, scientists are finding new ways to enhance our current senses — and even add new ones.Fun facts you’ll learn: How scientists are using “peripheral devices” inspired by snakes, moles and fish to give humans new senses; the inner workings of a vest that lets people hear through touch. (Yes, you read that right. See it in action at the 11:45 mark.)

“Do you think you can tell when someone is telling you a lie?”

When to ask: At a late-night get-togetherThe basic idea: From inkblot tests to learning styles to the details of Milgram’s famous experiment, there are a number of famous psychology tidbits we think we know — but are actually wrong about.Fun facts you’ll learn: Contrary to popular belief, men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus. Also — sorry to break it to you — listening to Mozart won’t make you smarter.

“Tell me about a time when you made an assumption — and were proven wrong.”

Who to ask: Your seatmate on a plane or long train tripThe basic idea: It’s easy to hold a narrow vision of a person or a whole culture. But everyone has a collection of layered, overlapping stories — no one is a single, simple meme.Fun facts you’ll learn: Why the media’s focus on a “single story” about a place prevents true understanding; and what we can do to change — and broaden — the narrative.

“Are you optimistic about the world, or pessimistic — and what makes you feel that way?”

When to ask: Among old friendsThe basic idea: Thanks to sensationalist news media, many people think the world is heading in the wrong direction. But reality doesn’t always align with our pessimistic perceptions. By changing the way we see information, we can rise above ignorance.Fun facts you’ll learn: The many surprising pieces of evidence that show the world is getting better (and why chimps seem to have a better handle on this than we do). For a heartening stat on global vaccine rates that the media got wrong, click to 7:05.

“Do you think you are smarter than your parents?”

When to ask: At a family reunion picnicThe basic idea: Cognitive history shows that each generation scores higher on IQ tests than the one before. As the world around us has changed, so has our ability to process it and understand increasingly complex concepts.Fun facts you’ll learn: The staggering difference in average IQ scores between generations; the “mental artillery” we have today that our grandparents didn’t; and the areas in which we still fall short. (Hint: flipping through a history textbook might be a good idea.)

When to ask: While cooking with friendsThe basic idea: For all the progress we’ve made in neuroscience, some basic questions about the human brain’s size and function have remained unanswered — until now.Fun facts you’ll learn: The key difference between a human brain and a rat brain; the skill our ancestors developed that changed everything; and what neuroscientists achieved by making “brain soup.”

“If you had to choose between a roof over your head and your right to vote, which would you choose?”

Who to ask: Someone from a different background whom you want to understand a bit betterThe basic idea: China’s rise to economic power is indisputable, and while Western leaders tend to fixate on clashing ideals, some emerging economies view China’s model as the one to emulate.Fun facts you’ll learn: The political and economic values propelling China forward; why the West’s focus on liberty and democracy isn’t always applicable to reality; and what the could be championing instead.

“Ever notice how our dogs behave when they’re in packs?”

When to ask: At the dog parkThe basic idea: The behavior of individual animals may seem simple and straightforward, but when these animals interact in groups, surprisingly complex patterns emerge.Fun facts you’ll learn: How to create an example of complexity theory with Scottish terrier puppies.

Ah, wanderlust. Mild symptoms include obsessive airfare tracking and uncontrollable daydreaming about tropical beaches during conference calls. Severe cases can cause reasonable people to cash out their 401(k) to buy a camper van and hit the open road.

These 9 TED Talks are guaranteed to ignite your need for travel. As a precautionary measure, we’ve included detailed warnings about the possible side effects of each video, but have your passport handy before you press play. Just in case..

Elora Hardy: Magical houses, made of bambooThis video may lead to: Moving to Bali to build a gorgeous, curvaceous, sustainable six-story bamboo mansion in the jungle.How to prepare for your trip: Use bamboo skewers to construct an elaborate play structure for your cat.Postcard quote: “The floor that you walk on, can it affect the way that you walk? Can it change the footprint that you’ll ultimately leave on the world?”.

Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice cold waterThis video may lead to: Packing a wetsuit and surfboard for a beach weekend in … Iceland.How to prepare for your trip: Take a really cold bath. Outside. During a snowstorm.Postcard quote: “In life, there are no shortcuts to joy.”.

David Macaulay: An illustrated journey through RomeThis video may lead to: Boarding a plane for Italy with nothing but a sketchbook and a pencil.How to prepare for your trip: Make detailed architectural sketches of the Olive Garden while sitting in the parking lot, waiting for your to-go order of manicotti.Postcard quote: “Rome is a city full of surprises. We’re talking about narrow little winding streets that suddenly open into vast, sun-drenched piazzas. That amazing juxtaposition of old and new.”.

Karen Bass, Unseen footage, untamed natureThis video may lead to: Stargazing from the highest peak in the Altiplano.How to prepare for your trip: Take daily walks up the steepest hill in your neighborhood.Postcard quote: “People often ask me, ‘Where’s your favorite place on the planet?’ and the truth is, I just don’t have one. There are so many wonderful places.”.

Pico Iyer: Where is home?This video may lead to: Putting your house on the market.How to prepare for your trip: Duolingo.Postcard quote: “For more and more of us, home has really less to do with a piece of soil than, you could say, with a piece of soul.”.

Ben Saunders: Why bother leaving the house?This video may lead to: Chartering a helicopter to drop you off in Siberia for a brisk ten-week stroll across Antarctica.How to prepare for your trip: Walk to work. Walk to the grocery store. Walk to Maine. Walk back.Postcard quote: “To try, to experience, to engage, to endeavor — rather than to watch and to wonder — that’s where the real meat of life is to be found.”.

Rachel Sussman: The world’s oldest living thingsThis video may lead to: Flying to South Africa to sit under a 2,000-year-old Baobab tree and ponder.How to prepare for your trip: Try to determine the age of things around you, from the trees on your block to the leftover meatloaf in the back of the fridge.Postcard quote: “The oldest living things in the world are a record and celebration of our past, a call to action in the present and a barometer of our future.”.

Vincent Moon: Hidden music rituals around the worldThis video may lead to: Cashing out your retirement fund to tour the world in search of live music.How to prepare for your trip: Open Spotify, search on “world music,” and play all of it.Postcard quote: “I wanted to go somewhere else. I felt the need to travel and to discover some other music, to explore the world.”.

Kitra Cahana, A glimpse of life on the roadThis video may lead to: Renouncing traditional society, selling everything you own that won’t fit in a knapsack, and hopping a freight train bound for anywhere.How to prepare for your trip: Attempt to barter for your next vanilla latte.Postcard quote: “This is a different kind of American dream.”

]]>http://blog.ted.com/9-ted-talks-guaranteed-to-give-you-wanderlust/feed/2talks_to_give_you_wanderlust_1200x627katetedtalks_to_give_you_wanderlust_1200x6277 talks on the transgender experiencehttp://blog.ted.com/7-talks-on-the-transgender-experience/
http://blog.ted.com/7-talks-on-the-transgender-experience/#commentsMon, 08 Jun 2015 22:56:43 +0000http://blog.ted.com/?p=99217[…]]]>Alice Miller was born in a body that didn’t feel like hers. Every day, Yee Won Chong has to debate whether to use the men’s restroom or the women’s. Geena Rocero found success as a fashion model — but kept her birth gender a secret for nearly a decade, fearing what others would think.

All these people have transitioned into their true gender. And all of them made the decision to share their stories in a TED or TEDx talk. What these seven stories show: There is no one “right” way to live a life. And no one should have to spend a life hiding who they are.

Below, seven talks on living life expressing your true gender:.

“I thought I should be a girl, but everybody treated me as a boy. So I concluded I must be wrong.”

For years, Alice Miller worked hard to be “just a normal guy,” doing everything she could to squelch her feelings that she actually ought to be a girl. But those feelings never went away. After twenty years in the CIA, two marriages, two kids, and in the middle of a distinguished academic career, Alice transitioned to live full-time as a woman. In a moving talk from TEDxStanford, she explains why..

“I want to do my best to help others live their truth without shame and terror.”

Geena Rocero kept her assigned sex a secret from her model colleagues — and even her agent — for years, “not because I thought what I am is wrong,” she says, “but because of how the world treats those of us who wish to break free.” In a poignant talk from TED2014, she shares her battle to live as her true self — for all of those who feel like they don’t fit in the body they have..

Since childhood, Valentijn De Hingh struggled with fitting into a simply defined gender box. It wasn’t until she threw away the idea of the traditional gender binary that she started to feel comfortable with herself. At TEDxAmsterdam she shares how she was finally able to live beyond the limits of traditional gender..

“I found my resting place in the fluidity of gender. When I found self-acceptance, the rest of my world aligned with me.”

Fox Fisher is a filmmaker who documents the vitality and diversity of the trans community. At TEDxBrighton, he reveals how he came to the decision to medically transition from female-bodied to male-bodied, and how that kickstarted a mission to help tell the unique stories of gender-variant people. It’s a narrative, he says, made up of so much more than surgery stories and hyped-up caricatures..

“Do I come across ‘guy’ enough to use the men’s bathroom, or do I feel threatened enough by the men in this place that I would take the risk of being yelled at in the women’s?”

Living as a sex other than the one you were assigned at birth has huge implications on how you function in society, says Yee Won Chong at TEDxRainier, whether that’s choosing a bathroom to use or trying to get a government ID. In his talk, he shares his experience living as a transgender person, and shares advice on how everyone can be allies to the transgender community..

“I felt my soul was always female, but I was afraid people would laugh at me if I expressed it. So I always kept it bottled up and just showed my male side.”

Martine Rothblatt is the founder of Sirius XM satellite radio. And she also identifies as transgender — she was Martin as a child. In an interview onstage at TED2015, Rothblatt discusses her work, her home life and her relationships, all which have been bolstered by her decision to live a life of gender fluidity..

“The greatest compliment I get from anyone is that they want me to meet their friends. They want to invite me in. And that is how you should treat a transgendered person.”

Kate Stone’s talk from TED2013 isn’t at all about gender — it’s about her work using conductive inks to print circuit boards on posters and album covers. To Stone, her gender is the least interesting thing about her. But as she tells the TED Blog, she felt compelled to speak out after a shocking freak accident (she was attacked by an animal) landed her in the UK tabloids — where headline-hungry journalists focused on her gender. Once recovered, she realized she suddenly had a platform to speak out and help end the stigma. Because inviting people in isn’t just how you should treat a transgendered person. “That’s how you should treat anybody,” she says. “With respect.”

Do you have a story you’d like to add to this list? Share a link in the comments.

]]>http://blog.ted.com/7-talks-on-the-transgender-experience/feed/5Geena Rocero TED TalkshaileyreissmanWhy the eff didn’t you watch these TED Talks? The 2013 editionhttp://blog.ted.com/why-the-eff-didnt-you-watch-these-ted-talks-the-2013-edition/
http://blog.ted.com/why-the-eff-didnt-you-watch-these-ted-talks-the-2013-edition/#commentsFri, 27 Dec 2013 16:00:34 +0000http://blog.ted.com/?p=85122[…]]]>Perhaps you are looking forward to a new and hopeful 2014; perhaps you see late December as the perfect time for reflection and resolution. I’m pleased to let you off the hook. This is the time when you should look back at your year and focus on the question: What TED Talks did I miss? Lucky for you, the 2013 edition of “Why the eff didn’t you watch these TED Talks?” — which, amazingly, you seemed to like last year — is here. New and hopeful is fine and good, but I’m more in favor of not forgetting the old, the weird, the mystifying, the liminal and the hidden. And so I give you: My favorite 11 under-loved TED Talks of 2013. Be ready to be mildly chastised for missing out on them the first time around.

Andrew Solomon: Depression, the secret we share
If you haven’t seen this talk yet, you’re excused, as it was just published last week. But if you don’t watch it in the next 30 seconds, you have some thinking to do, young man/lady. Writer Andrew Solomon, who also gave the beautiful talk “Love, no matter what,” exposes the deep, dark recesses of his mind from the years of his depression. His voice wraps you in a dark, heavy verbal blanket flecked with gold. His quotes and stories and jokes weave together effortlessly, in such a way that even the most cynical of viewers will find themselves giving Solomon a standing ovation in front of their laptop. It’s hard to believe that he actually talks like that in real life, but we’re told he does.Solomon somehow makes thirty minutes on depression the best part of your day. So: Why the eff didn’t you watch this talk (yet)?

Parul Sehgal: An ode to envy
The wonderful and eloquent Parul Sehgal had me at “Proust and sexual jealousy.” Literary critic Sehgal argues that the best lab for jealousy is the novel, evoking our favorite neurotic boy, Marcel, and his masochistic hero-in-love, Swann. Sehgal’s self-deprecating wit makes the topic of jealousy surprisingly delightful. As she says, wanting to possess someone is not so unlike a quest for knowledge, and jealousy is not so unlike telling a story. “Jealousy,” she says, “makes us all amateur novelists.”Parul Sehgal admits that at age 8 she changed her classmate’s grade in her teacher’s grade book. So: Why the eff didn’t you watch this talk?

Ken Jennings: Watson, Jeopardy and me, the obsolete know-it-all
This talk requires a little bit of American pop culture trivia, but its message is universal: Even if you are the world champion of factoid collection, you will still someday be beaten by a supercomputer. Ken Jennings, who holds the record for the longest streak on the American game show Jeopardy!, gives a hilarious talk on what it was like to lose to IBM supercomputer Watson in 2011. This talk somehow turned me into a follower of the Cult of Ken, about nine years too late and despite not having watched Jeopardy! growing up.This talk made me get a Twitter account just to follow Ken Jennings. So: Why the eff didn’t you watch it?

Charmian Gooch: Meet global corruption’s hidden players
Global Witness co-founder Charmian Gooch is kicking ass and taking names. She begins her talk on global corruption by drawing you in with portraits of the outrageously wealthy, decadent and gluttonous. Gooch drops fact after appalling fact about how “far-away” countries are being robbed by the powerful and corrupt and how the international banking system enables them — and makes us all complicit. You’ll hang on her every word, for fear that she’ll implicate someone you know and you’ll miss it.Charmian Gooch is a badass who doesn’t tolerate corruption at any level, no matter who is involved. So: Why the eff didn’t you watch this talk?

Stuart Firestein: The pursuit of ignorance
I know that I know nothing. I also know that I like to collect wise white-haired grandfather figures, and Stuart Firestein is an excellent addition. His talk on how science is basically just farting around in the dark is funny and philosophical and calls for “high-quality ignorance.” A great talk on how science is less an acquisition of a finite number of known facts and more a journey of questions, ignorance and unknowing.This talk is about “high-quality ignorance.” So: Why the eff didn’t you watch it?

Iwan Baan: Ingenious homes in unexpected places
I first heard about the Zabbaleen — the trash-collecting Coptic community in Cairo that recycles 80 percent of what they find by allowing their pigs to forage through collected heaps — in 2009, during the swine flu scare, from a good friend studying in Cairo. She told me that the city had ordered that these pigs to be killed, meaning that the city would lose its extremely efficient recycling system, one of the best in the world. Now, I get to see the literally trashy world of the Zabbaleen through the eyes of Dutch photographer Iwan Baan. In a fascinating talk, he shows how disadvantaged communities — like that of the Zabbaleen — can become places of remarkable innovation and expressions of personal aesthetic. I also learned an important lesson from Baan: Every community needs a barber, be it a 45-story abandoned tower in Caracas Venezuela, or a floating village in Nigeria.This talk has people living underground and cows living inside apartments. So: Why the eff didn’t you watch it?

John McWhorter: Txtng is killing language. JK!!!
Linguist John McWhorter argues that texting is not a scourge, but a “linguistic miracle.” Breaking down the grammar of a typical text message, McWhorter argues that it’s more accurate to think of texting as “fingered speech,” more like a spoken language than a written one. He points out that across cultures, people are able to speak slangy, grammatically loose spoken sentences while still maintaining the ability to write in grammatically and syntactically accurate language. So, no worries, our kids aren’t going to live in a linguistic circus in 20 years.John McWhorter makes linguistics fun and texting un-horrible. So: Why the eff didn’t you watch this talk?

Janette Sadik-Khan: New York’s streets? Not so mean any more
In an ode to my great city of New York, Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan shows off three major projects the city created to cut down on congestion, decrease traffic injuries, and boost retail. The talk was given in September, four months after New York’s first bike-sharing program launched, and it was a great first look into the success of the program. I’ve always thought New York was a bit backward compared to cities like Paris and Amsterdam, which are incredibly bike-friendly. But the success of Citi Bike and the rest of Sadik-Khan’s programs in transforming the city’s streets is a testament to the true adaptability of New Yorkers – and the fact that, in this city, the tide of change always wins out over the nostalgic curmudgeons.Janette Sadik-Khan transformed Times Square by shutting down car traffic for five blocks and putting out lawn chairs. So: Why the eff didn’t you watch this talk?

Jeff Speck: The walkable city
My biggest gripe about growing up in the suburbs was that until I was 17 it was impossible to go anywhere without a licensed driver. My town was so intent on teenage oppression that it never occurred to the government that sidewalks might be desirable. My hometown could learn a thing or two from city planner Jeff Speck, who has an earth-shattering idea that is going to save everyone: walking. He gives an anti-urban-sprawl talk that argues that walking will solve the economic, health and environmental problems rampant in the U.S. Sing it, brother.Walking: It’s simple, and it solves everything. So: Why the eff didn’t you watch this talk?

Dambisa Moyo: Is China the new idol for emerging economies?
Economist Dambisa Moyo makes an interesting argument: In emerging markets, the American Dream has a new sparring partner: the Chinese Dream. Capitalism and democratic representation is no longer the only model for success, argues Moyo. She presents a compelling new narrative to the Rise of China: What’s really worrisome for Western democracies is that they’re losing credibility with emerging markets.Dambisa Moyo offers a new perspective to the standard narrative of the Rise of China. So: Why the eff didn’t you watch this talk?

James Flynn: Why our IQ levels are higher than our grandparents’
There has been a massive increase in IQs in the past century. Why? Well, James Flynn — the father of the “Flynn Effect” and another great addition to my Grandfather Collection — argues that it’s not because we’re all geniuses and our ancestors were mentally deficient, but because over time we’ve become better at thinking in the abstract and imagining hypotheticals, which is what IQ tests test for. According to Flynn, our ancestors were more mentally rigid, and could only think about what was directly and tangibly in front of them. Were my ancestors unable to imagine beyond the concrete world? I’d like to think so, but I suppose the relevant question is: Were they able to imagine what life and thinking would be like for me?James Flynn has a capital E effect named after him and an excellent beard. So: Why the eff didn’t you watch this talk?

As 2013 draws to a close, TED is deeply humbled to have posted 1600+ talks, each representing an idea worth spreading. So which ideas have had the most widespread impact? Below, a look at the 20 most-watched talks as of December 2013. These viewership numbers include all the platforms we track: TED.com, YouTube, iTunes, embed and download, Hulu and more.

Some fascinating things to notice on this list, if you’d like to compare and contrast it to the most popular talks in 2012, and to the list we shared back in 2011: Amy Cuddy, Susan Cain, David Blaine and Pamela Meyer are all newcomers to the list, with Cuddy’s talk storming to spot #5 thanks to you sharing it. Meanwhile, Brene Brown’s talk has doubled in its number of views since 2012, with Simon Sinek and Mary Roach’s talks coming close to that line. And finally, Ken Robinson’s classic talk? Well, it has been played nearly 9 million times since last year alone.

But what really makes this list so incredible is the fact that it spans so many areas of interest, from education to happiness, statistics to creativity, tech demos to illusions. We love that this list revels in the wonders of the human brain, as well as in the incredible creatures of the deep sea, and far beyond.

Sheryl Sandberg gave a classic talk at TEDWomen 2010, which became the basis for her book, Lean In.

A dream analysis app creator. A fearless swimmer. The CEO of Campbell’s Soup. A spacesuit designer. These are the kinds of speakers who will take the stage when TEDWomen 2013 kicks off at San Francisco’s SFJAZZ Center tomorrow. With three sessions centered around the theme “Invented Here,” the event will be a global look at what drives local innovation, with 220 TEDxWomen events in 58 countries tuning in for a webcast.

To get you in the spirit, watch this selection of great talks given at TEDWomen and TEDxWomen events in past years.

Jane Fonda: Life's third act
Jane Fonda: Life’s third act
The longevity revolution? Yes, says Jane Fonda. Her generation is living, on average, 30 years longer than their parents did. So how to make those extra decades vital, productive, full-of-life ones? At TEDxWomen 2011, Fonda shares what she’s learned so far.

iO Tillett Wright: Fifty shades of gay
iO Tillett Wright: Fifty shades of gay
Most people don’t consider themselves simply gay or straight. When photographer iO Tillett Wright asked people to assign a number to their sexuality, she found that most people occupied the gray area between the two poles. In this talk from TEDxWomen 2012, she shares a few of her images of 2,000 people on the LGBTQ spectrum to underline the point that having just two boxes is very limited.

Tony Porter: A call to men
Tony Porter: A call to men
Not every TEDWomen talk is given by a woman. In this bold talk from TEDWomen 2010, activist Tony Porter shares the notions of manhood that he grew up with and how these ideas — that men must be superior and unwaveringly strong — were actually deeply hurtful. In this talk, Porter urges the members of his gender to push themselves out of the “man box.”

]]>http://blog.ted.com/11-talks-from-tedwomen/feed/6Sheryl-SandbergkatetedSheryl Sandberg gave a classic talk at TEDWomen 2010, which became the basis for her book, Lean In. 16 TED Talks that are perfect for procrastinationhttp://blog.ted.com/15-ted-talks-for-procrastination/
http://blog.ted.com/15-ted-talks-for-procrastination/#commentsTue, 26 Nov 2013 23:54:35 +0000http://blog.ted.com/?p=84231[…]]]>The few days before a holiday are brutal. It doesn’t matter if you have a lot of work on your plate or have midterms to study for — your mind just wants to be distracted from it all. And so, we bring you the best TED Talks for procrastinating, so you don’t have to feel completely guilty for not doing what you are supposed to be doing. After all, you are learning.

This post is partially inspired by this Reddit user, who asked for great talks to get him/her over the desire to procrastinate. But we say: what’s the fun in that? Though do check out the thread for ideas, as some good talks are suggested.

Peter Doolittle introduces us to working memory at TED University at TEDGlobal 2013. Photo: Bret Hartman

Experiences we have all had: walking into a room with a tremendous sense of purpose, only to realize that you have completely forgotten what the purpose was. Talking to someone in a restaurant and losing the thread of your conversation because you’re distracted by the juicier one at the table next door. Slowing down as you walk because you’re thinking about how to phrase a text message.

“Life comes at us, and it comes at us very quickly,” says Doolittle. “What we need to do is take the amorphous flow of experience and somehow extract meaning from it with a working memory that is about the size of a pea.”

Watch Doolittle’s talk for some helpful strategies for improving your working memory’s ability to hold on to information. And here, a few more TED Talks related to memory. Just make sure to actually store what’s said in them, m’kay?

Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory
Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory
What is happiness? Behavorial economist Daniel Kahneman shares how this is a complicated question, because we perceive things in two ways: as the “experiencing self” and as the “remembering self.” The experiencing self makes assessments in the moment, but the remembering self creates a coherent story in retrospect about them. Kahneman shares how powerful the remembering self is, helping us make decisions going forward and, ultimately, determining how satisfied we are with our lives.

Cesar Kuriyama: One second every day
Cesar Kuriyama: One second every day
Cesar Kuriyama has a cool idea for anyone who is concerned about remembering the little wonderful moments of their life. In this talk from TED2012, he introduces us to an app called One Second Every Day that allows you to record moments and stitch them together into a continuous video. Kuriyama plans to do this for the rest of his life, to make sure memories don’t just slip away.

A student from the audience introduces a speaker at TEDYouth 2012, themed “Just like school … not.” Photo: Ryan Lash

What conference, besides TEDYouth, could bring together an elephant communication expert, the head of research at Pixar, a professional storm chaser, and a 16-year-old DJ? TEDYouth 2013, “The Spark,” happens tomorrow, November 16, at 11am CST in New Orleans, Louisiana. And you can watch along via the live webcast, which will be available in English, Spanish and Arabic. To get you ready for this fast-paced, mind-blowing conference, here’s a playlist of some of the best talks from TEDYouths past.

Adam Savage: How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveriesAdam Savage is the host of Mythbusters, and the king of making scientific analysis fun. In this talk from TEDYouth 2011 — which happens to be half animated — he shows how simple methodologies led to two of the most exciting scientific discoveries of all time: Eratosthenes’ calculation of the Earth’s circumference and Hippolyte Fizeau’s measurement of the speed of light.

Greg Gage: The cockroach beatboxAt TEDYouth 2011, Greg Gage dissected a cockroach on stage. In this talk, amped up with animation, we get a deeper look at how their brains work as he manipulates the electrical impulses between the leg and brain. Because roach brains are so much like ours, if we understand how they work, we can understand how we work.

Katherine Kuchenbecher: The technology of touchAt TEDYouth 2012, Katherine Kuchenbecher shares why she is working hard to make haptic feedback a part of everyday technology. What is “haptic”? Anything related to the sense of touch. Imagine being able to touch a fabric as you shop online, or your dentist being able to “feel” a cavity from a scan.

Maurice Ashley: Working backward to solve a problemMaurice Ashley is a chess grandmaster. And in this talk from TEDYouth 2012, he shares one method he uses to improve his game — using retrograde analysis to work backward from the endgame he desires. He shares why this is useful in chess … and life.

Tom Chi: Rapid prototyping Google GlassIt didn’t take years, or even months, to prototype Google Glass. It was done in a single day. In this talk from TEDYouth 2012, Tom Chi — who was on this prototyping team — shares how they did it using binder clips and clay.

Robert Full: Curiosity, discovery and gecko feetHow do geckos stick to walls and trees? It has to do with their hairy toes. At TEDYouth 2011, Robert Full tells the story of how a sophomore in college solved this mystery by creating a beautifully simple way to measure the force of a single gecko hair.

David Fasanya and Gabriel Barralag: “Beach Bodies”In another truly amazing spoken-word moment, this time from TEDYouth 2012, David Fasanya and Gabriel Barralag bring down the house. This reflection on self-image begins, “I don’t know about you, but I’m trying to get this beach body…”

Arthur Benjamin is perhaps the world’s leading mathemagician and, in today’s talk, he aims to show the creativity, beauty and wonder that is as much a part of math as logic.
Arthur Benjamin: The magic of Fibonacci numbers
Stepping onto the TEDGlobal 2013 stage, Benjamin takes us on a spirited tour of the Fibonacci numbers, where the patterns to be found go far beyond simply adding two consecutive numbers to get the next. Math is the science of patterns, says Benjamin, and isn’t it incredible that as we note the arithmetical significance of this sequence, that we can also see it in action all around us?

“Fibonacci numbers appear in nature surprisingly often,” says Benjamin. “The number of petals on a flower is typically a Fibonacci number. Or the number of spirals on a sunflower or a pineapple.”

Benjamin’s talk reminds us of several other TED classics. Human beings have a proclivity for patterns, and this collection of talks sheds light on how, and why, we lock into patterns and use them in countless facets of life.

Michael Shermer: The pattern behind self-deception
Michael Shermer: The pattern behind self-deception
The brain is wired to see patterns and this is not just the case in humans. Birds in a box, with two holes to peck, will continue the pattern of action that resulted in the delivery of a food reward, even if the food is really dispensed randomly. This is just one of the ways Michael Shermer, the director of the Skeptics Society, cleverly gives us insight into our innate “patternicity.” Often, the tendency to follow patterns can lead us to offbeat, incorrect or out-of-this-world conclusions.

Patricia Kuhl: The linguistic genius of babies
Patricia Kuhl: The linguistic genius of babies
Our innate nature of pattern-recognizing is even evident in a baby’s ability to learn language. By “taking statistics” and finding trends in the words constantly spoken to and around them, young children identify and absorb the cultural characteristics of their native language. In this talk, Patricia Kuhl describes this fascinating — and critical — period of language acquisition.

Beau Lotto: Optical illusions show how we see
Beau Lotto: Optical Illusions show how we see
Patterns are essential in our brains’ ability to make sense of the infinite possibilities of the stimuli in our surroundings. We use guidance from neighboring clues and our own memories of past experience to fill in the blank that is the perception of the present. Beau Lotto, exposes the assumptions that the brain makes based on such patterns through the trickery of optical illusion.

Jean-Baptiste Michel: The mathematics of history
Jean Baptiste: The mathematics of history
Patterns expose consistencies throughout human history that teach us about the past and allow us to anticipate the future. Did you know there is a mathematic equation that links the language of the King of England in the 9th century to Jay-Z? Jean-Baptiste Michel has found this equation and sees great potential in finding more intriguing trends in our time of digitized data.

Laurie Frick: Seeing the hidden language in art
Identifying patterns help humans to find clarity in seemingly useless information. Laurie Frick, an engineer turned artist, collects and simplifies millions of data points of human tracking into visuals that expose trends amidst seeming background noise. Beginning with measuring her own minute-to-minute sleep patterns, in this talk from TEDxAustin, she describes a form of art that celebrates the surveillance and reveals the structure that makes the human condition more accessible.

]]>http://blog.ted.com/8-ted-talks-about-patterns/feed/7Arthur-Benjamin-at-TG2013danigrodskyalt=refer to captionTED Talks to cheer you up on a bad dayhttps://www.ted.com/playlists/167/charming_talks_for_a_boost_on
https://www.ted.com/playlists/167/charming_talks_for_a_boost_on#commentsTue, 05 Nov 2013 21:00:54 +0000http://blog.ted.com/?p=83432[…]]]>It’s a widely documented fact: bad days are cumulative. They begin with pouring yourself a bowl of cereal, only to find that you’re out of milk. They escalate with discovering that the hot water isn’t working in the shower, and they percolate over a terrible morning commute. Add in a thunderstorm or an unexpected tiff with a co-worker and, well, it is all downhill from there. Your bad day will keep on rolling, picking up more and more material as it spins, like a tumbleweed of annoyance.

Bad days are the worst. But these TED Talks are very likely to cheer you up. Enjoy.

Kathryn Schulz: On being wrong
Kathryn Schulz: On being wrong
Perhaps it’s maybe, kind of, sort of possible that something you did contributed to your bad day. Kathryn Shulz’s talk will make you feel very comfortable with the idea of being wrong, because fallibility is just part of being human. Bonus: the opening anecdote will make you laugh.

Amy Webb: How I hacked online dating
Amy Webb: How I hacked online dating
Maybe it’s that slippery thing called “love” that’s got you down. If that’s the case, this talk from Amy Webb is the answer. After a string of disastrous dating incidents, she decided to write her own algorithm for love and reverse-engineer online dating. The result: well, it’s really good. And her conclusion: the problem wasn’t that she was being too picky, it was that she wasn’t being picky enough.

Phil Hansen: Embrace the shake
Phil Hansen: Embrace the shake
When artist Phil Hansen developed a debilitating hand tremor, he thought his career was done. And then a doctor suggested: “Embrace the shake.” In this talk, he shares how a physical limitation drove him on to incredible creativity. Think: portraits in matches, painting with karate chops and tattooed bananas.

Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion
Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion
Work can be draining, yes. But this talk from Rita Pierson will have you up on your feet and ready to take on any challenge. A long time educator working in some of the most challenging classrooms in the country, Pierson has found a foolproof way to get through to any student: by actually taking the time to form a relationship with them.

Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness
Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness
Psychologist Dan Gilbert has spent decades studying what makes us happy — and it isn’t what we think. This talk gives insight into why lottery winners and paraplegics report themselves as being equally happy a year after the moment that changed their life. Because of our incredible “psychological immune system,” which helps us synthesize happiness when things go wrong. It’s certainly something to tap into on a bad day.

]]>https://www.ted.com/playlists/167/charming_talks_for_a_boost_on/feed/21169305984_640kateted8 talks on beauty of the handmade (complete with Dong Woo Jang’s diagrams for how to make the perfect bow and arrow)http://blog.ted.com/8-talks-on-beauty-of-the-handmade-crafting-and-makers/
http://blog.ted.com/8-talks-on-beauty-of-the-handmade-crafting-and-makers/#commentsFri, 01 Nov 2013 15:52:27 +0000http://blog.ted.com/?p=83307[…]]]>

Dong Woo Jang shares why he makes handmade bows—as a way to relieve stress and connect to his heritage. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

In South Korea’s “pressure-cooker” educational environment, 15-year-old Dong Woo Jang began to feel his caveman instincts kicking in: He needed to survive. And like his ancestors, he decided to arm up –- with a bow and arrow.

Learning and perfecting a craft such as bowmaking is no easy task. Jang attests to staying up many a night to saw, trim and polish wood. He experimented and researched endlessly, and almost set his apartment complex on fire.

Below, 7 more TED speakers who speak to the joys (and tribulations) of creating something purely by hand:

Janet Echelman: Taking imagination seriously
The speaker: Janet EchelmanWhat she makes: Art from fishing nets and lace
Janet Echelman was walking along the beach one day when she came across voluminous piles of fishing nets. A longtime artist, she had assumed that sculptures needed to be hard and heavy — but these nets shifted her thinking. She worked with the fishers to learn how the nets were made, and later studied with Lithuanian lace makers. These artisans have had a big impact on her work.

Peter Reinhart: The art and craft of bread
The speaker: Peter ReinhartWhat he makes: Bread
Baking master Peter Reinhart charts the making of a loaf of bread, from dough to oven to plate. It’s all about mastering the details: “Personality and character’s being developed in this dough under the watchful gaze of the baker. And the baker’s choices all along the way determine the outcome of the product. A subtle change in temperature — a subtle change in time — it’s a balancing act between time, temperature and ingredients.”

Marisa Fick-Jordan: The wonder of Zulu wire art
The speaker: Marisa Fick-JordanWhat she makes: Products woven from telephone wire
In Africa, women have been weaving wire for centuries. But the modern era has streamlined the form, providing a perfect ready-made material — telephone wire. Marisa Fick Jordan shares how she worked with a village of traditional Zulu wire weavers to create modern products, marrying an artistic eye and a technical craft to create a business.

Eva Zeisel: The playful search for beauty
The speaker: Eva ZeiselWhat she makes: Ceramics
Before Eva Zeisel could become a ceramics master, she had to be an apprentice and learn all aspects of making pottery by hand, like preparing the clay taken from the Hungarian hillsides. She prefers to be called a “maker of things,” rather than a designer. She says, “The word ‘playful’ is a necessary aspect of our work because, actually, one of our problems is that we have to make, produce, lovely things throughout all of life, and this for me is now 75 years.”

Frank Gehry: My days as a young rebel
The speaker: Frank GehryWhat he makes: Furniture made of paper, buildings inspired by fish
Before he was a famous architect, Frank Gehry created paper furniture and cardboard flooring for Bloomingdales in the 1960s. In this talk, he tells the story of his evolution, and how most of the architectural work we now know him for is based on the form of the fish. “I got mad at postmodernism and said that fish were 500 million years earlier than man and, if you’re going to go back, we might as well go back to the beginning.”

Thomas Thwaites: How I built a toaster -- from scratch
The speaker: Thomas ThwaitesWhat he made: A toaster, by hand
Thomas Thwaites wanted to build an electric toaster from scratch. And in doing so, he found a daunting task awaiting him: 400 different pieces made out of over a hundred unique materials. Some skills he had to learn to make this vision a reality: mining, metallurgy and plastic-making.

Neil MacGregor: 2600 years of history in one object
The speaker: Neil MacGregorWhat he makes: Museum exhibits of hand-crafted objects
Why are the craft and construction of things important? Perhaps Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, explains it best in his talk, “2,600 years of history in one object.” He says, “The things we make have one supreme quality — they live longer than us. We perish, they survive; we have one life, they have many lives, and in each life they can mean different things. Which means that, while we all have one biography, they have many.”

Below, see Dong Woo Jang’s tips and diagrams for making the perfect bow.

“The perfect bow begins with a piece of wood. I have spent the most time working with bamboo wood.”

“I make five separate pieces of bamboo wood of different length, width and thickness, which will be fastened with nylon string. I try to avoid using glue unless it is totally necessary. “

“I string the bow with inelastic string. Then, using the arrow, draw the string gradually to ease the bow up. I increase the tension each day for weeks in order to make the wood fibers flexible. If the wood does not give in easily, I glue layers of other materials — such as bamboo, artificial sinew or nylon fiber — onto the outer part of the bow. I usually buy artificial sinew from leather shops.”

“When not in use, bow string needs to be unfastened. Otherwise the tension of the bow will decrease and the bow will remain rigid and loose flexibility.”

“For other types of hard wood — such as yew or mulberry — I take a long piece of log of about 150 cm and cut it with axe or sickle to resemble the shape of the bow.”

]]>http://blog.ted.com/8-talks-on-beauty-of-the-handmade-crafting-and-makers/feed/4Dong-Woo-Jong-at-TED-redoiamableckyDong Woo Jang shares why he makes handmade bows—as a way to relieve stress and connect himself to his heritage. Photo: James Duncan Davidson"The perfect bow begins as a piece of bamboo wood. I make five separate pieces of bamboo wood of different length, width and thickness, which will be fastened with nylon string. I try to avoid using glue unless it is totally necessary. "Bow-diagram-3Bow-diagram-2"When not in use, bow string needs to be unfastened. Otherwise the tension of the bow will decrease and the bow will remain rigid and loose flexibility.""For other types of hard wood -- such as yew or mulberry -- I take a long piece of log of about 150 cm and cut it with axe or sickle to resemble the shape of the bow."If you liked Amy Webb, you’ll love…http://blog.ted.com/if-you-liked-amy-webb-youll-love/
http://blog.ted.com/if-you-liked-amy-webb-youll-love/#commentsThu, 10 Oct 2013 21:30:17 +0000http://blog.ted.com/?p=82711[…]]]>

For the past week, Amy Webb has been inspiring people to calculate their own algorithm for love. Her laugh-out-loud TED Talk, about reverse engineering her online dating profile and, essentially, data-ing her way into her perfect relationship has gotten a lot of attention, including on The Frisky and Pop Sugar. As Webb’s talk continues to take off online, here is what to watch next if her talk intrigued you and left you wanting more.

Helen Fisher: The brain in love
Helen Fisher: The brain on love
Love: it makes the world go ‘round, and has been found in 170 societies. But why? In this talk, Helen Fisher shares how she and her team put new couples, longterm couples and those who’ve just been dumped in MRIs, and what they’ve learned about our need for love based on this brain activity.

Kevin Slavin: How algorithms shape our world
Kevin Slavin: How algorithms shape our world
Algorithms are, basically, the mathematic programs computers use to make decisions. They guide our Netflix recommendations, book prices, the stock market, architecture optimization, and so much more. And yet, algorithms interfere and lock into each other in loops, creating bizarre behaviors. Slavin asks: Could entrenching these systems in our lives, even in the earth, have implications we don’t yet realize?

Gary Slutkin speaks at TEDMED about his unusual approach to the epidemic of violence.

As a physician and epidemiologist, Gary Slutkin didn’t think he had much to contribute to the conversation about gun violence in America.
Gary Slutkin: Let's treat violence like a contagious disease
But then he began to realize something — that outbreaks of violence follow the same patterns as outbreaks of tuberculosis, cholera and AIDS, all of which he’d worked on reversing during a decade in Somalia, Uganda and other parts of Africa. What predicts violence? Slutkin realized that it is in fact like a contagious disease because the biggest indicator is a preceding incidence of violence.

Laurie Garrett: Lessons from the 1918 flu
Laurie Garrett: Lessons from the 1918 flu
In 2007, amid intense fear over the spread of avian flu, people started stockpiling masks and Tamiflu. In this talk, given at TED that year, disease prevention expert Laurie Garrett explains why this is not the best approach and why it’s about having prepared communities, rather than prepared individuals. How does she know this? For that, she looks to the flu epidemic of 1918.

Gregory Petsko: The coming neurological epidemic
Gregory Petsko: The coming neurological epidemic
Some epidemics start rapidly; others take decades. As Gregory Petsko explains at TED2008, this will be the case for Alzheimer’s disease as the population over the age of 80 balloons. This means that it’s time to do more research, now. A bold call for the government to start funding research into connections — like the fact that those with neurological disorders have very low incidence of cancer.

This post originally ran in September of 2013. It was updated on October 10, 2013, with a new and relevant talk.

]]>http://blog.ted.com/ted-talks-with-novel-ways-of-thinking-about-epidemics/feed/4Gary-Slutkin-and-TEDMEDkatetedGary Slutkin speaks at TEDMED about his unusual approach to the epidemic of violence.New playlist: TED under 20http://blog.ted.com/new-playlist-ted-under-20/
http://blog.ted.com/new-playlist-ted-under-20/#commentsSun, 08 Sep 2013 15:00:58 +0000http://blog.ted.com/?p=81355[…]]]>They might not be old enough to rent a car solo or to order a glass of wine, but they certainly have what it takes to deliver a fascinating talk on a bold idea. In this playlist, we highlight incredible TED speakers under the age of 20.

From Taylor Wilson, 17, and his nuclear fusion reactor to Richard Turere, 13, and his invention to ward off lions to Tavi Gevinson, 17, and her media empire — we dare you to watch these talks and then complain about “kids today.”

Ron Finley is just one TED speaker with an idea for improving the health of his city. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Cities, traditionally, have not been the healthiest of places. The spread of diseases, sanitation issues, pollution — these things accelerate with large masses of people living in close quarters. But is that the way it needs to be? Could the cities of the future also be places where all people get top-notch healthcare, and where people collectively help each other live healthfully?

At TEDCity2.0, a one-day conference being held in New York City on September 20, two dozen plus speakers will take the stage to share bold ideas on the future of cities. They will speak on topics ranging from health to housing, art to education, safety to transportation, with the talks focused around the theme“Dream me. Build me. Make me real.”

To get you excited for TEDCity2.0, and the TEDxCity2.0 events that will surround it, watch these great talks on improving health in urban areas.

Rebecca Onie: What if our healthcare system kept us healthy?
Rebecca Onie: What if our healthcare system kept us healthy?
A child with an ear infection may get a prescription for antibiotics, but the real problem is usually an overcrowded apartment and a lack of food at home. This was a hard lesson that Rebecca Onie learned while working at the pediatrics unit of Boston Medical Center. At TEDMED 2012, she shares how this experience inspired her to start Health Leads, a program that can prescribe heat in winter or extermination for infestations, and connect patients with the resources they need to improve issues underlying health.

Ernest Madu: World-class health care
Ernest Madu: World-class health care
In Kingston, Jamaica, Ernest Madu founded the Heart Institute of the Caribbean. It’s an institution that, thanks to tech-savvy solutions and good design, provides incredible cardiovascular healthcare in the developing world, where heart health is generally left up to fate. At TEDGlobal 2007, Madu describes how cities can improve their population’s well-being in a ripple effect by providing healthcare.

Vikram Patel: Mental health for all by involving all
Vikram Patel: Mental health for all by involving all
450 million people across the globe suffer from mental illness — it’s a health issue at play in every major city. In wealthy nations, about half of people who need it receive care for mental illness — but in the developing world, about 90 percent of cases go untreated because of a startling lack of psychiatrists. At TEDGlobal 2012, Vikram Patel shares a radical idea to get help for those who need it — train whoever is available in local communities to provide mental health interventions.

]]>http://blog.ted.com/8-talks-with-ideas-for-healthier-cities/feed/3Ron-Finley-at-TED2013katetedRon Finley is just one TED speaker with an idea for improving the health of his city. Photo: James Duncan DavidsonRock, paper, scissors! These 5 TED Talks play with paper in fresh wayshttp://blog.ted.com/rock-paper-scissors-these-5-ted-talks-play-with-paper-in-fresh-ways/
http://blog.ted.com/rock-paper-scissors-these-5-ted-talks-play-with-paper-in-fresh-ways/#commentsTue, 13 Aug 2013 18:26:14 +0000http://blog.ted.com/?p=80947[…]]]>

Beatrice Coron shows off an incredible cape, made out of cut paper, at TED2011. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Ban may be one of the few major architects in the world making buildings out of paper, but when it comes to transforming paper into something new and revolutionary, he is in good company. Below, talks from TED speakers using paper innovation for art, technology and social change.

Callie Curry aka Swoon at TEDxBrooklyn
Callie Curry started wheatpasting as a way to take her art out of the classroom and engage with her world. But what began as outdoor art expanded to seagoing rafts, and eventually to homes in post-earthquake Haiti made out of scavenged material. In her TEDxBrooklyn talk, Curry describes the power of repurposing products of destruction into the structures of tomorrow.

]]>http://blog.ted.com/rock-paper-scissors-these-5-ted-talks-play-with-paper-in-fresh-ways/feed/0Fun-with-paperniaashley66Beatrice Coron shows off an incredible cape, made out of cut paper, at TED2011. Photo: James Duncan Davidson8 talks to watch for Book Lovers Dayhttp://blog.ted.com/8-talks-to-watch-for-book-lovers-day/
http://blog.ted.com/8-talks-to-watch-for-book-lovers-day/#commentsFri, 09 Aug 2013 15:24:54 +0000http://blog.ted.com/?p=80829[…]]]>

Chip Kidd designs book covers. Which makes today a good day to watch his TED Talk. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

The Book. Few things are as universal, as ubiquitous and as transformative. On this Book Lovers Day, we’ve compiled talks that examine all the facets that make books great. Do you judge a book by its cover, like Chip Kidd, or get absorbed into a compelling narrative like Andrew Stanton? Were you taken to new lands by foreign authors like Lisa Bu or exposed to nuances of your own language by a master of vocabulary like lexicographer Erin McKean? No matter what gets you nose-deep in a paperback, all you’ll want to do after watching these talks is curl up in your favorite reading spot and crack open (or at least swipe through) your favorite book.

One of Drew Berry’s incredible, scientifically-accurate animations of what’s happening in our cells.

Art so often seeks to capture the beauty of the natural world — from cave drawings of animals, to paintings of landscapes, to sculptures of the human form in marble, bronze or wood. But in this playlist, find artists and designers who take this to the next level, making art based on the laws of nature and the invisible workings of biology itself.

Tom Shannon, John Hockenberry: The painter and the pendulum
Tom Shannon: The painter and the pendulum
In this interview, John Hockenberry questions artist Tom Shannon about his metallic sculptures that levitate, and about how his scientific inspiration has evolved over time. Shannon says that his art starts with the need to solve a question — a process similar to scientific exploration. In the privacy of Shannon’s studio, we see work that challenges the idea that objects can’t defy gravity, as well as a sculpture that simply exemplifies the complex relationship between earth and sun. But perhaps his most inventive meditation on biological occurrences is Shannon’s painting pendulum. Says Shannon, “As humans, ultimately being part of the universe, we’re kind of the spokespeople or the observer part of the constituency of the universe. And to interface with it, with a device that lets these forces that are everywhere act and show what they can do, giving them pigment and paint — just like an artist it’s a good ally.”

See also: Just as Shannon found an unusual way to paint, Phil Hansen is an artist who had to find new methods when he developed permanent nerve damage in his forearm. After a pivotal “embrace the shake” revelation, Phil began creating art focused on transforming limitations from frustration into inspiration. Watch his powerful talk »

Drew Berry: Animations of unseeable biology
Drew Berry: Animations of unseeable biology
Ever wondered what a molecule looks like? Well, your naked eye won’t help answer that question. “Molecules are smaller than the wavelength of light, so we have no way to directly observe them,” says biomedical animator Drew Berry, who was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010. By immersing himself in the world of cutting edge scientific research, Berry has made molecular and cellular biology accessible for the masses. In this talk from TEDxSydney, he uses intricately rendered animations to traverse the DNA highway into the depths of cells. This ambitious blend of art and science is matched by his determination to educate the public, in a beautifully engaging way, about important scientific discoveries.

See also: Speaking of unseeable biology, artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg collects DNA “evidence” — found on cigarette butts and strands of hair — and uses it to create a sculpture of what a person may look like. Her project took off from one basic question: How much can be learned about a person from a stray hair? Watch this TED original about Dewey-Hagborg’s work »

Doris Kim Sung: Metal that breathes
Doris Kim Sung: Metal that breathes
Before houses had air conditioning, they used tiny windows and thick walls to combat extreme weather and regulate temperature. Before cars had air conditioning, they overheated and thus signaled to us the overuse of energy. Fast forward to today, where impossibly cold stores have become the norm. How do we make our buildings work better? At TEDxUSC, biology student turned architect Doris Kim Sung shares how she studied the human body to learn how skin regulates body temperature and, from that research, developed the smart material known as “thermo-bimetals.” She reveals how panels of this material can be used to create responsive ‘building skins’ that help our buildings breathe beautifully and efficiently.

See also: It seems like a big jump from studying the body to producing architectural innovations, but great minds think alike. Members of the Mediated Matter Group at MIT Media Lab have also developed a building based on skin, called Silk Pavilion. Using a robot to build the external framework, 6,500 silkworms then got to work enmeshing the exterior in their lovely, naturally-occurring materials. Read more at Fast Company »

Margaret Wertheim: The beautiful math of coral
Margaret Wertheim: The beautiful math of coral
In 2005, Margaret Wertheim and her sister, Christine, asked the internet and art institutions alike to join an interdisciplinary project that combined math, marine biology, environmental activism and feminine handicraft. With thousands helping, they set out to crochet the largest coral reef in the world to raise awareness of the impact global warming has on this massive, living ecosystem. In this talk from TED2009, Wertheim explains that the mathematical study of hyperbolic structures (aka, things frilly and curly) discovered in the 19th century couldn’t be depicted until Dr. Daina Taimina began to knit in 1997 and eventually crocheted a coral reef. Wertheim suggests that tangible understanding is equally as important as theory. “What we want to propose, is that the highest levels of abstraction, things like mathematics, computing, logic, etc. — all of this can be engaged with, not just through purely cerebral algebraic symbolic methods, but by literally, physically playing with ideas,” says Wertheim.

See also: Photographer Barry Rosenthal is another artist transforming traditional methods of portraying biological species. Instead of recreating botanical drawings of flora and fauna from real flowers, Rosenthal uses trash found in the streets of Brooklyn and New Jersey to create taxonomies of our littered sidewalks and gardens. Though these photographs may seem like collections of junk, the subtle environmental message is also quite alarming. See more at his website »

JoAnn Kuchera-Morin: Stunning data visualization in the AlloSphere
JoAnn Kuchera-Morin: Stunning data visualization in the allosphere
If you can imagine being inside a computer that looks like an omnitheater, you can partially imagine the mysterious, three-story metal arena known as the Allosphere. This echo-free chamber, connected to a very large computer, was created as an interdisciplinary center for artists, scientists and engineers to work together. While scientists explore complex algorithms and test new hypotheses, engineers build computers large enough to dynamically store data and artists create visuals and sounds to help holistically understand such sensitive information. Watch this demo from TED2009, as JoAnn Kuchera-Morin takes you through five research projects going on at the Allosphere — including quantifying beauty through monitoring the brain and working with quantum mathematicians to visualize and hear quantum information flow.

See also: Tomas Saraceno — an Argentinian artist — has created ‘In Orbit,’ an installation that rises about 65 feet above a piazza in Germany. It allows patrons to look, climb and feel like they’re floating in space, walking along a spider web or traversing the inside of a soap bubble. Read more at Design Boom »

Lucy McRae: How can technology transform the human body?
Lucy McRae: How technology can transform the human body
Lucy McRae is a self-proclaimed ‘body architect.’ How does one get that title? She has a background in ballet, architecture and fashion, with an added interest in transforming the human body. While working for Philips Electronics, McRae worked on projects that resembled sci-fi realities, but working on prototypes wasn’t enough. She began to ask questions about communication and sexual attraction — like “Would it be possible to create swallowable pills that allow you to perspire perfume to attract partners?” Watch this talk from TED2012 to see her provocative, visionary work exploring the limitless future of biology and technology.

See also: Speaking of perspiring perfume, another hybrid team of designers and scientists is exploring synthetic biology to detect toxins and bacteria using colored biomarkers. The EChromi team is engineering bacteria to secrete colors that indicate whether the water is safe or if the food is good to eat, and this work won them the 2009 International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM). Read more at their website »

A backstage shot of the D’Angelos—mom Francesca, son Mario and father Roberto—as they receive applause following their talk at TEDGlobal 2013. Photo: Ryan Lash

Francesca Fedeli had a hard pregnancy. But she and her husband, Roberto D’Angelo, thought they were in the clear when their son, Mario, was born in January 2011 and seemed healthy.
Roberto D'Angelo + Francesca Fedeli: In our baby's illness, a life lesson
However, just 10 days later, Mario was diagnosed as having had a perinatal stroke. The right side of his brain was damaged, leaving him unable to move the left side of his body.

In Wednesday’s shockingly honest talk, the pair express what went through their minds as they adjusted to this development. “We weren’t ready,” says Roberto D’Angelo in this talk, given at TED University during TEDGlobal 2013. “Nobody teaches [you] how to deal with such disabilities.”

The D’Angelos struggled with depression as they proceeded with physical rehabilitation for Mario, including mirror neuron therapy, in which they modeled for their son how to use objects, on the theory that watching them would help Mario build those neural pathways for himself. (Read more about mirror neuron rehabilitation.) But they soon realized Mario was mirroring not just their motions, but their emotions as well.

“We were looking at him as a problem, not from a positive perspective,” says D’Angelo in a very tender moment. “That day really changed our perspective. We realized we had to become a better mirror for Mario.”

Check out these other talks about parents faced with impossible circumstances and what helped them get through.

Dr. Benjy Secklerat TEDxBerkshires: Fighting Duchenne muscular dystrophy for my son
In this talk, Dr. Benjy Seckler introduces us to his 11-year-old son, Charley, who writes his own Mad Libs and makes brisket paninis. Charley has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease that affects boys, breaking down their muscle function to the point where they lose the ability to walk by adolescence and die in their late teens or early twenties. (Read about TED Fellow Darius Weems, who also suffers from the disease.) Seckler knows that the statistics on the disease are paralyzing — and yet he and his family decided to take action. In this talk, Seckler shares why they started Charley’s Fund, which supports promising clinical trials for drugs that could improve muscle strength for kids like Charley.

9/11 healing: The mothers who found forgiveness, friendship
Phyllis Rodriguez and Aicha el-Wafi are two mothers who were both deeply affected by 9/11. Rodriguez lost her son in the attacks on the World Trade Center. Meanwhile, el-Wafi’s son was convicted of playing a role in the terrorist act. The two here share their unusual friendship, struck up when Rodriguez and her family spoke out against the death penalty for el-Wafi’s son. He is now serving life in prison.

Leilani Schweitzer at TEDxUniversityofNevada: Transparency, compassion and truth in medical errors
Leilani Schweitzer lost her 20-month-old son after a series of medical mistakes—ending with a nurse who turned off his medical alarms, hoping that it might help him sleep. In this talk from TEDxUniversityofNevada, she points out a paradox—that patients and their families want the human element when it means kindness, but not when it means errors. She lays out a different way that hospitals can handle tragic mistakes like this—with transparency, compassion and the truth about what happened, rather than bunkering down to avoid a lawsuit. She asks: could this help heal our medical system and help avoid future errors?

Cheryl Kilodavis at TEDxSanJoaquin: My princess boy
And to end this playlist on a lighter note, Cheryl Kilodavis’ son Dyson loves wearing dresses, adores the color pink and wants to be a princess. While her initial reaction to her son’s preferences was to push back and encourage him to play with trucks, she eventually realized: she had to accept him. Since then, she has written a book, My Princess Boy, encouraging parents to accept different gendered behavior in their kids. In this talk, she asks: why are we so scared of difference, and how can parents transcend those knee-jerk reactions?

]]>http://blog.ted.com/7-talks-from-parents-facing-difficult-circumstances-with-bravery/feed/3D'Angelos-and-TG2013katetedA backstage shot of the D'Angelos—mom Francesca, son Mario and father Roberto—as they receive applause following their talk at TEDGlobal 2013. Photo: Ryan Lash